Say “Hi(gh)” to the Newly Reopened Skyscraper Museum

The Skyscraper Museum has reopened to the public — and while the buildings might be the highest in the world, the admission cost is the lowest it can be. It’s free!

In the late 19th Century, two inventions — the elevator and steel cage construction — allowed the city to reach to the skies. The museum tracks the high rise growth of New York story by story.

You can find the gallery in Battery Park City. Its new hours are Thursdays to Saturdays from noon to 6pm and you will need to get a timed ticket in advance to visit. Admission is free through January 2022 thanks to the generosity of their donors and sponsors.

To give a world perspective, there is a new exhibit — Supertall 2020 (delayed a year by the pandemic) — which brings together 58 skyscrapers from across the world that are taller than the 102 stories of the Empire State Building.

But just how tall is Supertall? The Skyscraper Museum sets its bar high: 1,250 feet/ 380 meters, the height of the Empire State Building. However, the popular benchmark of 300 meters – about 1,000 feet – favors round numbers, but represents a 19th-century standard, the Eiffel Tower.